Sweet Potato Custard | Beauty Detox

Sweet Potato Custard

October’s Beauty Detox assignment was to create our own version of Kimberly Snyder’s Sweet Potato Custard. By blending cooked sweet potato with tapioca, I was able to achieve that light and creamy texture of a traditional custard without any of the eggs or milk. This vegan sweet potato custard is sweetened with a touch of maple syrup and topped with whipped coconut cream (see recipe below).

Pretty much the only time I ever really eat custard is when it’s part of a prix fixe menu, so in my mind it’s a fancy dessert even though it really couldn’t be more simple. And this sweet potato custard isn’t any different. I kept it easy by baking the custard, which avoided having to stand over the stove stirring the tapioca.

Tapioca isn’t typically baked, but I decided to go ahead and bake this custard in a water bath just like a classic custard. Usually this method is used to prevent the egg from overcooking and curdling the custard, and while this recipe doesn’t contain any egg, I thought it might prevent the outside of the custard from cooking too quickly. I wanted to make sure that this sweet potato custard had a consistent creamy texture throughout, and the water bath did the trick. I refrigerated my custard before removing the ring molds just to be extra sure that it would hold together. By ring molds I mean tin cans, since I couldn’t find my ring molds anywhere. The tin cans did the trick, so remember that for the next time you’re desperately in search of a ring mold! Or, you know, use a ramekin.

This sweet potato custard is thickened with tapioca and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. This baked custard is a creative, completely vegan twist on a classic dessert.

Author: Home at Six

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, chopped

4 tbs tapioca flour

¼ cup coconut milk

3 tbs maple syrup

1 tbs vanilla extract

coconut whipped cream, walnuts, and maple syrup for serving

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F

Bring water to a boil in a medium sauce pan

Add sweet potato and simmer until very tender (10 minutes)

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and combine until completely smooth

Fill ramekins or other oven safe food molds and place in a larger casserole dish

Add boiling water to larger casserole dish to ⅔ of the height of the ramekins

Carefully place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes

Allow to cool completely before serving

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Coconut Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

1 can full-fat coconut milk

2 tbs powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: Cool coconut milk in fridge overnight. When ready to use, flip can over and open. Pour off liquid and retain leftover cream. In chilled bowl, use a hand-mixer to mix coconut cream, sugar and vanilla until it becomes nice and fluffy. Store leftovers in the fridge, and re-whip before serving.